Just One Yesterday
by BelleBasBleue
Summary: Paris was getting dangerous, very dangerous. Not even their superheroes could save them from the fate of their city. Rated for blood and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: This is a very violent story. If you do not want to read about blood, do not read this story.**

"That could have gone a lot better." Ladybug rolled her sore muscles as she released the purified akuma.

"Ladybug, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"Chat Noir rushed up to Ladybug and held out his hand. Ladybug violently turned to him, throwing off his hand.

"NO! Don't talk to me right now. You've done enough damage. We'll talk about this later. We need to get this wrapped up." The akuma attack had been rough and had gone horribly wrong. Ladybug had luckily been able to use her lucky charm in time to cover up Chat's mistake, but the battle still took a toll on the superheroes of Paris.

Ladybug left Chat hanging to talk to the victim as she headed over to the crowd that had started to gather to talk to the press.

"Ladybug! Ladybug! Has there been any development on finding where Hawkmoth is now?" cried one reporter.

"Ladybug! How in danger is Paris, knowing that the attacks are already becoming more dangerous?"

"Ladybug! Ladybug!"

"Ladybug! Is it true that you and Chat Noir are steadily losing control of your powers?"

"Are we in danger of actually being hurt?"

Ladybug held out a hand, and it silenced the crowd instantly. Ladybug barred a smile that she only wore for the press, and answered their questions. "It is true that we are getting close to finding Hawkmoth. He has been giving away little secrets about where he is located every single attack, but Chat Noir and I have yet to come to any conclusions."

"Paris is still very safe. I agree, the attacks have become a lot more dangerous, but luckily my powers can always reverse them. And you also don't have to worry about Chat Noir or I ever losing complete control over our powers. We still will protect Paris no matter what it takes." Her earrings beeped a warning for two minutes, and Ladybug walked away from the press, telling them that she had to go.

Before launching herself towards her family's bakery, Ladybug walked over to Chat Noir. Like her, he had just finished his job of talking with the victim, making sure she was ok. Chat Noir turned to Ladybug with pleading eyes. Ladybug put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright. We still need to talk about it, but we can't do it here. Meet me on the roof of the abandoned factory in thirty minutes," Ladybug said curtly, and she whizzed off.

Thirty minutes later Marinette had quickly gotten Tikki some cookies and gotten a start on her homework. As the time to meet Chat drew near, Marinette donned her spandex suit and jumped over to the abandoned factory on the other side of Paris. Chat wasn't there yet.

Even though some time had passed, Ladybug was still fuming about Chat's stupidity in the battle. _He can be so arrogant some times_. Chat dropped onto the roof behind Ladybug, and Ladybug mentally prepared herself. She needed to tell Chat firmly what went wrong. _I can't deal with his shenanigans anymore_.

"Hello, my Lady! Wonderful evening isn't it?" Chat said in a painfully cheery voice. Ladybug could tell that he was trying to make everything better, but it only angered her.

"I guess it is, but it would look a lot prettier right now if you hadn't decided to anger Lady Draco more than needed with your cataclysm." Ladybug whirled around angrily, and Chat took a few, tentative steps back. "That as real stupid of you to destroy the one thing she wanted; her mother's photo. Everything would have gone a lot smoother and a lot quicker if you hadn't done that. Now all of Paris is starting to think we have no control!" Ladybug's eyes glowed bright in anger. Chat stood his ground, but nervously tried to calm his partner down at the same time.

"I didn't mean to do it on purpose. I was trying to be helpful."

"Yeah, well you weren't." That struck a nerve in Chat, and he defended himself with harsh words, just like what Ladybug was doing at the moment.

"Oh COME ON! You've done stupid things too that ruined a lot of fights, clumsy girl! Remember Volpina? Yeah, all your fault." Chat Noir and Ladybug now stood nose to nose, arguing and japing pointy swords into each other with their words.

"At least I solved it! All you did back there was sit and look horrified at what you did, Chat! You're no hero! You just prance around destroying things, making terrible puns, and making everybody angry. No wonder Paris doesn't trust us! It's because of you and your destruction!" Ladybug screamed. She breathed heavily as she kept her hands in fists and her legs in a fighting stance. Her eyes breathed fire just like how Lady Draco's had done earlier.

Chat stood, stunned. His own fighting stance had long since disappeared, so he just stood there like a deflated balloon. His eyes became smeary and started to glaze over. Ladybug saw the smallest tear crawl out of his eyes and she instantly broke down.

"Oh, Chat…I didn't- I didn't mean that, really, I just-" Ladybug reached out a hand to take Chat's shoulder, but he promptly leapt out of her reach.

"No. It's ok," he spat. "I see how you see me…now…. I understand." With that Chat jumped into the darkness. Ladybug tried to run after him, but her legs felt like they had rooted her to the spot.

"Oh Chat…..what have I done?..."

000

Adrien's eyes burned like acid had been poured into them. His cheeks were raw from the rubbing of his hands and the acid from his eyes. Adrien was a hollow shell now that just stared blankly into space.

Adrien was sitting in an abandoned alley on the ground. The air ranked of human waste and decaying beings. It had started to rain, and heavy drops of hail pelted the ground, accompanied with thunder and lightning. Adrien noticed none of it.

Plagg hovered nervously in front of his charge, unsure about what to do. He had already run out of ideas. He had tried convincing Adrien that Ladybug didn't mean it at all. He tried telling a few jokes. He tried talking about Nino, Marinette, Alya, heck even Chloe. Nothing had changed Adrien's expression. Plagg even tried to convince Adrien to eat some Camembert. Adrien ate it with no complaint.

"Kid, please snap out of it. We can get past this," Plagg pleaded. "Adrien please listen to me. Everything's going to turn out fine. Just please, whatever you do, don't get akumatized. Only happy thoughts." Plagg huddled closer to Adrien, but Adrien just rolled over so his back was facing Plagg.

There was a silence for what felt like hours until Adrien finally spoke in a weak voice. "Maybe that's what will make things better….. if I show Ladybug my true value." Adrien's eyes glowed in the dark, foggy air. "Maybe everything would be better if I was akumatized." Plagg cried out in response to Adrien's statement and tried to get Adrien to change his mind, force out the bad thoughts; do something. But Adrien wouldn't listen, and that's all Hawkmoth needed.

A glowing purple and midnight black butterfly floated down the alleyway, whispering a message, "Oh, what a poor soul to be rejected and hurt by a loved one. That is one of the strongest feelings in the world."

Plagg made a last ditch effort to try and save his kitten, and he transformed Adrien into Chat Noir in hopes of taking control of the boy's brain, but he found the entry to his brain barred and locked.

"Chat Blanc. I am Hawkmoth. I can give you the power to show Ladybug and Paris how much of a hero you really are. But there is something you must do for me," Hawkmoth's voice boomed from inside of Adrien's head. Adrien, now Chat Blanc, lifted his head and the outline of a butterfly appeared, framing his eyes. Chat Blanc grinned at Hawkmoth's words.

"I will do whatever you ask, Hawkmoth."

"Good….good," Hawkmoth whispered in reply. An electric purple haze clouded around Chat Blanc. Particle after particle, the cloud attached itself to Chat. One moment Chat was wearing an invisibility cloak of cloud-like butterflies, the next he wore his new costume. His new suit shone like the moon itself and covered his whole body, save for his head. Just like his Chat Noir costume, his face was covered by a mask. The mask was white with an etching of a purple butterfly printed on it. Instead of glowing green, Chat Blanc's eyes were pitch black. His eyes were the color of demons.

"I will show Paris who the real villain is. My wish is your command…master."

000

Marinette sat at her desk in her room finishing up her history project for school. She needed to go out and patrol again, but her history project took precedence since it was due tomorrow, although Marinette's mind was not in it. Her mind was on topics such as scaling buildings under a moonlit sky and looking for the two people that meant most to her. Three weeks ago both Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste had disappeared off of the face of Paris. Marinette as Ladybug had patrolled non-stop since, looking for the two, but to no avail. Along with the two boys going missing, so had a few reporters, teachers, police officers, and some of her family. Literally anyone who knew Ladybug had suddenly disappeared without any notice. Marinette knew someone was after her, but the question was who.

Marinette filed her project away in her satchel for school and pulled out her phone to text Alya. The two had decided to keep tabs on one another in case they got taken by the mysterious criminal because of their ties to Ladybug. Marinette typed out her message to tell Alya that she was still safe, and a few seconds later Alya replied in same. Marinette sighed with relief. "Another hour, safe." She murmured.

Tikki flew out of her hiding spot and slowly looked at Marinette with tired eyes. "Are you ready to transform?" she asked weakly. Marinette just nodded and whispered the code word. The red and black polka dot skin spread over her body and encased her in warmth. Ladybug felt like she didn't deserve it.

"Don't worry, Marinette. We'll find the culprit soon," Tikki whispered from inside Ladybug's mind.

"That's not necessarily a good thing, Tikki." Marinette leaped out of her window and onto the roofs of Paris. She did a quick circuit around Paris, and then took a deeper look into everything her second time round.

It was an eerily calm night that made Marinette's skin prickle with electricity. Every time she had gone out so far she had felt this feeling and knew she was being watched, but the feeling was only amplified tonight. Along with the feeling of being watched, she also felt the urge to find Chat and Adrien fast before she could possibly lose them both. She was hoping against hope that they were still alright.

Ladybug ignored her feelings for a bit as she visited several homes of Paris. Little boys and girls lay sleeping comfortably in their cotton candy beds with no fear entering their minds at all. The teenagers, like Marinette, were much more aware and were by their little siblings for comfort if the need arose. The parents stood in their living rooms talking in hushed voices, worrying about what was to become of Paris. Ladybug wanted so much to tell them that everything was going to turn out fine, but she wasn't even sure of that anymore.

There hadn't been an akuma attack in three weeks, and that had calmed many Parisians down. But Marinette knew, or felt she knew the reason why there had been no attacks recently. It was because there was an akuma victim in Paris right at that moment. He or she was playing their cards carefully to get closer to her and Chat. It already looked like they had gotten to Chat. Now it was only her. Now it was only Ladybug and the akuma victim that had been following her for the past three weeks.

Marinette dropped herself carefully onto a large and bare roof to wait for her pursuer to catch up with her. When she felt him stop, Ladybug sprinted off the roof and went jumping and running all across Paris, trying to get a lead so she could circle back and get him. But her plan failed. In response, he had doubled his speed and was catching up to her.

Ladybug veered to the left, then to the right, but the villain anticipated her every move. Marinette tried her best moves of evasion to get away, but somehow it was too little too late. The villain caught up easily and threw his body weight against her so she lost her balance and tumbled into the alley below.

Ladybug hit the ground hard and she heard her elbow crack under impact. The rough pavement burned under her cheek, but she quickly tried to get up, only to be kicked down again by her follower.

"I wouldn't try to get up if I were you, Ladybug," a male voice whispered darkly. Ladybug's skin tingled with the familiarity of his voice, but her brain couldn't make a match. Ladybug heeded the man's directions, but rolled onto her back to look into her attacker's eyes. She was not prepared to see black, soulless eyes on her partner's face.

"Chat Noir?" She asked tentatively.

The boy sneered. "It's Chat Blanc now, My Lady." Ladybug shuddered. Her eyes took in the boy's bright, white suit that was flecked with what looked like dried blood and dirt. His breath stank of fish, and Ladybug had trouble breathing with his face so close to hers. It definitely looked like Chat had become akumatized. Nevertheless, Ladybug had to ask.

"What happened to you?" she asked. Chat Blanc dusted himself off as he got up and glared at her from above.

"I think it's kind of obvious, my dear. I became stronger, all thanks to you." Chat Blanc picked up Ladybug by her neck and set her upright roughly. He kept his hand securely around her throat and let his thumb caress her throat and the bottom of her chin. "You see, once you showed me what you really thought about me as a partner, I realized how right you were. I wasn't a hero in that weak little form. All I really ever did was vie for your attention, which was such a waste of time, let me tell you." Chat Blanc put his other hand around her neck as well and pressed hard enough that Ladybug's breathe faltered. "But in this form, I am so much better, and I am so much wiser. I am actually a hero, unlike you. I have done so much in keeping akuma attacks down in these past three weeks than you have done in years. Now I must tell you my plan for you. You see, this town isn't big enough for the two of us, or rather another person who opposes me."

"So that's why all of those people disappeared. You were getting rid of my followers," Ladybug was able to gasp out.

"Now you're catching up, Bugaboo," Chat Blanc snickered. "Oh, and I also have to tell you about this wonderful thing that I found only minutes ago. She was very willing to follow my lead on anything as long as I didn't hurt anyone she cared about. I made that promise, but it just wasn't in me to keep true to that promise." Chat Blanc squeezed tighter around Ladybug's throat, making her choke, but she was able to whisper a response.

"I know you're talking about me…and let….me…tell….you. I will not…..be….a….pushover." Her eyes burned with anger as she stared ruthlessly at Chat. Chat Blanc could see sadness and regret in her eyes, and he decided to play his ace.

"Oh! You thought I was talking about you?" He laughed in a shrill tone, and then suddenly stopped. "Goodness no! My little story that I just told you has already come and gone. The reporter Alya Césaire has already been dealt with. You won't be talking to her anytime soon. Go ahead and check your phone." Chat Blanc's voice became unceasingly calm and he let Ladybug take out her phone and quickly try and text Alya.

Ladybug kept a watchful eye on the cat as she was texting, ready for any surprise attack. None came.

Once the text was sent, the two watched the screen for several minutes, but Alya never replied. Ladybug didn't want to believe it was true, but she knew her gut feeling was right; it was always right. She felt like drowning herself in tears. But before Ladybug could react, Chat Blanc pinned Ladybug against the wall of the alleyway and once again lifted her by the neck.

"Now you are all alone." Chat Blanc held his breath for a dramatic pause then continued. "No one else will come and save you." Chat Blanc shoved a clawed hand into Ladybug's stomach then his other hand as he let go of her neck. Ladybug fell down into a puddle of dirty water. She was gasping for air when Chat Blanc rounded on her again by hitting her head against the concrete, clawing at the fabric of her nose until it bled substantially, and kicking her ribs until he heard them crack. Throughout all of the abuse, Ladybug didn't once raise her fist.

"COME ON! FIGHT ME!" bellowed Chat Blanc. "I KNOW YOU CAN. COME ON! YOU KNOW IT WELL FEEL GOOD!" Chat Blanc continued to yell and hit her until most of her body was covered in blood. "WHY WON'T YOU FIGHT ME?"

Ladybug looked up at her old partner and looked sadly into his eyes. "I won't fight you, Chat. You're my friend and my partner. I care too much to hurt…"

"AWW! That disgusting friendliness! I wonder how I ever got along with you?" Chat Blanc sneered. "You are just plain disgusting."

Ladybug kept a steady gaze on Chat Blanc and stared him down. It was working the way she wanted it to. She had gotten him to stop hurting her. "I am your friend," she whispered. "But even a friend would notice that she needed to change that cattitude." Ladybug shot her arm into the air, calling "Luck Charm!" Her hands grasped a spray bottle full of water. She instantly started spritzing him with the water, making him hiss angrily. "You like that?" Ladybug asked, innocently. The magic of her suit was slowly healing her wounds in front of the two's eyes. Ladybug smirked. "Looks like you can't really do much to me!" Two loud, shrill beeps cut through the foggy air and made both of them pause. Ladybug's eyes widened as she realized she only had two minutes left to her transformation. _I guess the healing must of taken some of Tikki's energy. I need to end this fast._

Meanwhile, Chat Blanc's tongue was tutting at her with sharp clicks. "Tut, tut. You spoke too soon. You will be susceptible to anything in a little while….about two minutes to be exact." Chat Blanc smiled arrogantly. "Want to give up?" He asked.

"NEVER!" Ladybug cried as she dived to tackle here enemy. She did so successfully with her spray bottle as her weapon, and she grabbed for the glowing ring on his left hand. Chat Blanc let out a gasp of shock and tried to grab the ring back, but Ladybug pushed him back down with her foot. "Down kitty" Ladybug said smugly as she crushed the ring in her hands.

Nothing came out of it.

No akuma, no kawami, no nothing. Ladybug looked incredulously at Chat Blanc. He smiled darkly as he reached inside his pocket.

"You should know by now, my dear Ladybug that not all akumas hide in something that the villains wear. The heroes, in my case, sometimes carry their object." Chat Blanc pulled out a duplicate ring out of his pocket and held it up to the only light that streamed through part of the alley. "It is curious, very curious on how we're going to solve our little dilemma," he whispered. "Especially when one of us is de-transformed." At his words Ladybug became a blur of light and soon her latex suit was once again civilian clothes. Chat's features reflected surprise and shock, but he quickly covered it with a smirk as he put his ring away. "Welcome to the show, Marinette."

A little red blur buzzed up to his face and was determined to injure him deeply, but Chat just knocked her away lazily. Marinette's face broiled.

"You will regret that! And don't worry, you're transformation will wear out too!" Marinette huffed.

Chat Blanc just idly picked at his sharp teeth. "You're wrong, Princess. Another thing that the people of Paris will love about me is that I won't transform into my weaker self. I will always be the hero they want. They will never see the prick, Adrien Agreste again."

Marinette had resolved to keep a level head and keep her emotions in check, but his words crumbled those walls. "You're….Adrien….Agreste?" She asked weakly.

Chat Blanc sneered at the words. "Was, my dear….was. Now I do believe we have some unfinished business to attend to." Without warning Chat Blanc, her once dear Adrien, leapt on her and clawed at every single bit of skin that was showing. Then he moved onto her clothed skin. This time Marinette didn't hold back anything. She kicked and screamed and even clawed at Chat Blanc's face. The fighting went on for minutes, maybe hours, but Chat Blanc just stopped suddenly and surveyed his handy work. Just like before, her body was covered in blood, but she didn't have a suit that could heal her this time.

Marinette relaxed her muscles when she realized the fighting was done for a while. She coughed weakly, but decided to try to reason with her partner one last time.

"Did you know I loved you back?" She asked quietly. "Both sides of you, without knowing it? I fell first for your 'weak side' as you call it. But then I fell for the pun loving cat. I thought I would never see the day when you would be….akumatized."

"No. You're lying!" Chat Blanc spat after a long pause after her words. "No one loved me,… not even my own father. But now all of Paris will love me." Some of Chat Blanc's spittle landed on Marinette's cheeks and she attempted to open her eyes.

"You really can't see it, can you? Even when it's right in front of you." Marinette took a pause to suck in more air, but she just coughed it back up. Nevertheless, she continued. "You were more of a hero than I ever was, and I'm sorry for yelling at you…..that one night. I should….have…never….done that." Marinette was running out of air, but she needed to get this out. "I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry that I did this to you." She weakly gestured to his outfit. "But I'm not that sorry to not realize that the person I knew is long gone…along with the love that I once felt for him."

Chat Blanc had stayed quiet and calculating as he let her speak. He had almost looked like he was about to actually forgive her, but that look was gone as quick as a flash from a camera. Anger seared into his eyeballs and in a blind rage Chat Blanc called for his Cataclysm and he threw his crackling hand against her stomach. Both of their voices collided in screams. Chat screamed in anger while Marinette yelled and cried form the searing pain that was eating away her flesh.

The burning and screaming went on forever, probably waking up the whole of Paris. When the torment had stopped, Chat was sitting on his haunches watching Marinette closely. She, in turn, was bent double over her bleeding, gaping wound. But, through the pain Marinette was able to stare at Chat Blanc with cold eyes. A black and purple butterfly darted into the alley and into Marinette's earrings. Just before she transformed she whispered to Chat. "I spilled my guts for you, but you just ignored it. Now the world will never look at you the same way again. That is my goal. My aim is to teach you a lesson in the worst kind of way. And I'm going to enjoy watching your face as I take everything you hold, or held dear, away. Because guess who's in control now?"

Before Chat's eyes Marinette's body morphed into her Ladybug outfit, but there were many changes. The background was black like a black hole in space. The black fabric was then covered with white spots that were encompassed in grime. The wounds that she had suffered in her fight with Chat stayed where they were, but were amplified. There were gaping holes in her face and a whole part of her body was missing from where the Cataclysm had hit her. Instead of hiding her wounds, the akumatized Marinette flaunted the wounds as she sidled over the Chat. The akumatized Marinette reached her hand into the pocket of Chat Blanc's suit and pulled out the ring. In her little fingers she crushed the ring, letting a large akuma out of it. She captured the akuma in her black yoyo, but instead of returning everything to its normal state, her miraculous cure only repaired the broken ring and the akuma was not let out of her yoyo. Ladybug tossed the ring in front of Adrien's face, taunting him.

"It looks like I'm in control now. I believe Hawkmoth will be very happy with my find." And with that, the akumatized ladybug sauntered off, leaving Adrien Agreste alone and cold in the alleyway.

Plagg was gone. Ladybug was gone. Marinette was gone. His whole future was gone. The one thing that Adrien wanted the most at that very moment was just one yesterday. He would trade all of his tomorrows with the soulless Marinette for one yesterday with his true lady where they could tell jokes into the night without worrying about the nightmares to come.

* * *

 **Hey Readers! I am really sorry for such a sad and scary story. I don't know why I wrote this, but for some reason it just came out. This story is based off of the song by Fall Out Boy featuring Foxes called "Just One Yesterday", and the song "Control" by Halsey. The art by CreativeCreepie on tumblr and youtube really inspired Ladybug's motives as well in this story. Again, I'm really sorry about how I tortured these characters, but thankfully this will never happen. I only wrote this as a what if story. I never want this to happen in the show, it was just interesting to delve into. Please comment, favorite, or follow if you wish. If enough of you want me to continue this story and write a happy ending, tell me. But until I write again, TTFN!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug. It belongs to ZAG animation and Thomas Astruc.**

Just One Yesterday Pt. 2

She's gone. Plagg's gone. Everything's gone. And it was all because of him. Yeah, Ladybug may have said cruel words, but so did he. They had both torn each other to bits with their own claws, and for Adrien it had hardly even started. Adrien curled around himself and let the shock of what had just happened hit him.

He had hurt Ladybug in the worst possible way by using his cataclysm on her. He had literally melted the flesh off of her bones. The shock that the true identity of Ladybug was Marinette also hit Adrien like a ton of bricks slamming into his already bruised ribs and he cried out into the night. All of the raw emotions streamed out of his body and left him exhausted by the end of it.

"I don't know how I can live now," he whispered, rocking his body back and forth, feverishly. "I'm useless at everything. I just endangered the whole of Paris just because I decided to be selfish," he wept. "What's the use of living if I have nothing to live for, anymore?"

"There are a lot of things I can list off right now that are reasons to live for, and I think your Lady is one of them," a small voice chirped quietly. It was such a tiny voice that Adrien thought for sure that he was dreaming, or already dead. He only believed in the small life form when it slowly whizzed close to his face and whispered the same phrase again.

This time Adrien opened his watery eyes to a red floating blob. Adrien wiped his eyes with his dirty sleeve and the blob became clearer. The little floating blob turned into a red kawami that had eyes that were so tired and worried. She had three black dots positioned on her head. She also had two antennas poking out of her head. Even though Adrien realized it was a Kawami, his brain could make no other connections between the Kawami and anything else, but the Kawami thankfully filled in the blanks.

"I know you're scared, Adrien, but for this moment you have to trust me. I am the Kawami to the Ladybug Miraculous, and we have to return her to her normal state. The fate of Paris rests on her being returned to normal, and you're the only one that understands her enough to save her." Tikki whispered.

Adrien stared at the Kawami incredulously. "What? Did you see what I just did to her? I crushed her heart so much she became akumatized. How in the world am I the only one that can help her? I think I even hurt you!" Adrien stayed curled around himself as he pointed to the bleeding spot on the Kawami's head. Tikki waved it off and explained that she could heal herself like she had done for Marinette earlier.

"It's really no big deal, Adrien. You should be more worried about yourself. Anyway, as I stated earlier, we need to focus on returning Marinette back to herself. And since you have known her for five plus years and have knowledge about Kawamiis and akumas, you are the best candidate to help her," Tikki explained. As always, no matter what the situation, Tikki was trying to be caring and comforting to support the people around her. Adrien was much more used to Plagg's mild caring, that he was not used to the caring of other people, or Kawamiis. He knew Plagg cared for him, but he thought that it was amazing that Tikki wanted to help the person who had personally hurt her and her charge.

"Yeah, I guess I'm the best candidate and practically the only one for the job since I destroyed anyone that would be willing to help Ladybug, or Marinette. But the real question is how? I can't transform…..Plagg's gone. My ring is gone. And even if I had it Chat Noir can't exactly do anything but destroy without Ladybug. She captures all of the akumas, and that's the only way we're going to resolve our issue," Adrien sighed tiredly, then continued.

"There's not really a Miraculous that I can borrow, and I can't exactly turn into Ladybug since her earrings were akumatized. Therefore, we are left with a boring, old civilian, and how can a normal civilian do anything?" Fear rolled itself into Adrien's mind, and tears started to leak out of his eyes again. Adrien was just so tired. _Why can't I just sleep this problem away?_

"No Adrien," Tikki said firmly, pushing herself past Adrien's knees that were blocking his face. Tikki fluttered in front of his face and she grabbed his cheeks in her tiny paws and shook him sternly. "Come on, you're Chat Noir in and out of costume. Hasn't Plagg told you that?" Tikki huffed. Adrien shook his head a little bit.

"Not really."

"Oh, THAT CAT!" Tikki ruffled her sleek fur, and an angry light shone from her eyes. "I'm going to give him a piece of my mind when he gets back. I've told him, he needs to reassure humans' confidences more. Humans have way too many problems staying happy. I mean, look at how many akumas have showed up in Paris alone? And what does Plagg care about? CHEESE! Oh my god, I'm going to kill him! I'm going to give him a-" Tikki suddenly stopped her rant mid-sentence when someone started petting her head. Adrien had stopped crying and was calmly stroking the top of her head. Tikki leaned into the touch for a space of time, then went up to Adrien's cheek to nuzzle it. Adrien laughed weakly, and it was enough to give Tikki hope.

"Adrien?" Tikki questioned. Adrien hummed in answer, saying he was listening. "I need you to find Alya and Nino."

Adrien opened his eyes and looked at Tikki sadly. "Nino would be easy, but….I de-destroyed Alya while I was Chat Blanc. I don't even know if she survived my attack." Adrien sobbed. "And even if she did, she wouldn't trust me anymore. Especially after she learned what I did to Mari. She wouldn't help me." Adrien leaned up against the brick wall behind him for support.

"Well, it's worth a try, isn't it?" Tikki whispered comfortingly. "We need help planning something to take Marinette back, and I think the author of the Ladyblog and the master DJ of Paris are needed for the job."

Adrien nodded in agreement. "Ok, I'll text Nino now, then I'll find Alya." Adrien looked for his phone with a purpose in his body language, and he pulled up Nino from his contacts. "You do realize how strange this is right?" Adrien asked Tikki.

"Why is that?" Tikki raised her eyebrows in question, and she cocked her head to the right.

"I finally learn the identity of My Lady and I meet her kawami for the first time, but instead of some romantic scene where Marinette and I hug and kiss, here I am plotting an attack on her with her Kawami. It's not at all what I was expecting." Adrien sent a text to Nino saying that he needed his help, and he asked if Nino would meet him at the old factory in an hour. He then returned his attentions to Tikki. "I never knew the reveal would have to be taken with such sadness."

Tikki cuddled Adrien's cheek again. "I didn't know it would work like this either. Although, the reveals never go as planned. With every Ladybug and Chat Noir in the past, something always went wrong. But you know what? It always ends up just right." Adrien's phone buzzed at a new message, and Tikki peered at the screen with Adrien. When Adrien accepted the text, he saw an explosion of caps lock messages.

" **DUDE! ADRIEN! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! EVERYONE HAS BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU FOR WEEKS! EVEN YOU'RE DAD HAS BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU!** " Nino had texted.

Adrien quickly typed his message back. " **It's a very long story, trust me. But I promise to tell you everything when you meet me. I need you to do something for me first.** " Adrien elaborated in his next text. " **Can you bring a first-aid kit?** "

Nino responded instantly. " **Dude if you got yourself nearly killed, I'm going to have to finish you off for you stupidity.** " After a few more seconds, Nino added, " **Don't worry, I'll bring it. But be careful. I missed you, Dude.** "

Adrien smiled at the screen. " **I'll be careful, Bro. Missed you too. *fist bump*** " Satisfied, Adrien put his pone away and slowly got up. He sighed heavily as he looked at the light in the sky. "Let's go get Alya, Tikki," Adrien whispered to Tikki. With that, he walked out of the alleyway slowly.

000

Lady Luck sauntered down the Champs-Elysees in the early dawn, throwing her yoyo in random directions. Everything that the yoyo touched melted. Cars raced in every direction trying to avoid her foreboding figure. The Arc de Triumph was still glowing with the multicolored lights that helped it glow in the night, but the beauty was slightly marred by the thousands of people trying to climb up the sides of it to get out of Lady Luck's way. Lady Luck just laughed. She laughed because of all of the people fleeing in her wake. She laughed because of the scared screams of tourists. She laughed at how ironic her name was. She wasn't really bringing Luck to those of Paris, but she was bringing great luck to her master, just like she should. She even laughed at the thought of the scared look on Adrien's face when he would see all of the destruction.

Ladybug Luck jumped onto the roof nearest her, and felt joy rise in her chest as she felt the building below her feet start to crumble. Lady Luck enjoyed this feeling the whole way to Hawkmoth's lair.

It was really amazing how no one had found the lair before. It was quiet easy to find it. The lair was in front of everyone's noses. The stained glass window of a butterfly stood out like a sore thumb at the back of Gabriel Agreste's manor. Lady Luck carefully hooked her yoyo to her belt, and she broke open the front doors of the manor and walked casually past Gabriel's assistants, who were quivering under their desks. She opened a hidden door behind a portrait of a young and beautiful blond woman in Mr. Agreste's study to find a long spiraling staircase that led the Lady up.

Reaching the last step on the stairs, Lady Luck looked around again to see purple wall paper hanging off the walls to an anteroom that desperately needed redecorating. There was an old and dirty brass door in front of her, and Lady Luck popped the door open and just walked into the next room like she owned the whole manor.

The next room was wide and spacious. Little pearly butterflies fluttered in the early morning sun that was streaming through the large, circular stained glass window on the other side of the room. There were only two pieces of furniture in the room, an armchair and a small couch, both a shade of burgundy. They were centered around a stone fireplace that was camouflaged with the wall. Hawkmoth sat brooding in the armchair, and he just stared into the fire that was turning to embers.

Lady Luck threw herself onto the couch. She inspected her nails on her right hand as she held out the black ring in the other. "I believe you were wanting this?" She asked with little to no interest.

Hawkmoth snapped out of his thoughts and he snatched the ring out of Lady Luck's gloved hand. He immediately tried the ring on. "My, oh my, My Lady. What a find!" Hawkmoth cried happily. The bright colored rays of the sun reflected off of the black surface and onto Hawkmoth's greedy smile.

Lady Luck twitched slightly at the nickname, but didn't give it a second thought. She just though it was her weaker form trying to resurface, so she pushed back at the feelings. Her face was once again of nonchalance.

"So you are happy, master?" Lady Luck asked.

Hawkmoth nodded. "Oh yes. You make me very happy. Now I just need Ladybug's earrings."

Lady Luck was quiet.

Hawkmoth's greedy smile crashed, and he turned angrily to his new minion. "Does your silence mean that you do not want to give me the earrings? Or does it mean that you can't access them?" Hawkmoth's fist clenched suddenly and Lady Luck grabbed her throat. She calmly tried to take in air as Hawkmoth tried to drag it out of her. He finally let go when he saw fear finally enter her eyes, and he sat back in his arm chair, satisfied. "Now which is it?"

Lady Luck took in large gasps of air, then managed to whisper, "The Kawami took the earrings as I transformed. They are no longer on me." Lady Luck fiddled with the hair in front of her ears, and Hawkmoth took notice.

"Then why do still have earrings on?" He asked gently, but a gruff scraping escaped his throat, showing his anger.

Lady Luck looked at him and answered him simply as she rubbed her sore neck. "These are dangerous times, master. My weaker form thought she was smart to carry or wear fake earrings in case someone tried to steal her miraculous. That is the reason why you do not have both of the Miraculouses in your hand." Lady Luck relaxed in her couch again, but Hawkmoth forced her up again.

"Fine. I'll take your word, but don't think I'll let you get away with this. You get to go out there and look for your precious kitten and those dratted earrings." Hawkmoth practically picked her up and threw her out the door. "Good luck, Lady Luck, but get out. I don't want to see you unless you have those EARRINGS!" Hawkmoth slammed the bronze door shut and Lady Luck felt his mind finally leave hers, if only for a moment. And in that moment, Lady Luck checked inside her pocket to check for the two circles of her earrings. She sighed heavily before leaving down the staircase to continue her reign of terror.

000

"Alya? Alya? Can you hear me?" Adrien whispered, shaking Alya's tattered body. Her body was in a terrible state when Adrien had found her. Blood was gushing from as many wounds as possible, and Adrien had to tear up his white over-shirt to stop most of the wounds from bleeding. Tikki had heard a weak heartbeat, so Adrien was gently trying to rouse her. Several minutes went by and nothing happened, but Adrien didn't stop. If anything, he tried harder.

"Come on! Mari needs you! Please Alya, Paris needs the best Ladybug reporter right now. Please wake up. I really didn't mean to hurt you in this way. I'm so, so sorry. Will you forgive me?" Adrien stopped shaking Alya and curled around himself. "Please…please wake up," Adrien whispered. Silence.

Tikki watched Plagg's chosen sadly. He was a strong soul, he just didn't know exactly how to fix this, but she did. Tikki patted Adrien on the cheek, then whizzed up to Alya's ear and whispered, "Alya, Ladybug's here and wants to meet you." Amazingly it did the job, and Alya slowly opened her eyes, looking around.

"Ladybug? Where?" she said sleepily. Adrien breathed a heavy sigh of relief and hugged Alya tightly. Alya jolted a little in surprise and stared blearily at the blond head full of hair, but she returned the hug. "Adrien? What are you doing here?"

Adrien pulled out of the hug and sat in front of Alya with a happy smile on his face. Tikki hovered onto Adrien's shoulder and smiled at Alya as well. "Wow," Tikki said to Adrien, "she's talking fast and comprehending a lot for almost dying."

Alya looked at the glowing blob on Adrien's shoulder and started freaking out. "AHHHH! What is that THING?! AND WHY DOES IT TALK?" Alya jerked back her arm and cried out. "AND WHY IN THE HELL DOES MY ARM FEEL LIKE IT'S BEEN BEATEN TO A PULE?" Alya stopped moving and leaned against the wall of the old factory. All of the color had drained from her face and she struggled a little bit with her breathing, but she recovered quickly.

Tikki flew to a safe distance between Adrien and Alya's faces and she started to explain to Alya what had happened and what she was, but Adrien cut in before she started to speak. Adrien thought it would be better if Alya received the information from a human instead of a floating, imaginary thing. Tikki quieted, understanding instantly.

"Alya, just stay calm. You got seriously injured, and I don't want you endangering yourself more by stressing yourself out. This," Adrien gestured to Tikki, "is a Kawami. It is real, and is the reason why Ladybug transforms. This Kawami is named Tikki, she likes cookies. But never mind that; both Tikki and I need your help," Adrien explained. Alya looked at Tikki suspiciously, but then she nodded at the Kawami.

"It's nice to meet you,…Tikki was it?" Alya asked. Tikki nodded. "Interesting….. well what do you need me for. You seem like a very ancient being that could surely fix whatever needs fixing with a flick of your paw, so why me?"

Tikki moved a little closer to Alya with a worried expression. "You don't know our problem, do you," she said sadly. Tikki paused for a few seconds, deciding whether to continue with the bad news or not. "Well I'm afraid I have some really bad news to tell you…. Marinette has been akumatized. It is very important to get her back to her normal self because like all other akuma victims, they need to be saved. But we mostly need her back because…" Tikki paused again. "Because she is Ladybug."

"WHAT!?" Alya cried out in disbelief. "My friend? Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Ladybug? Do you mean to say that my best friend, for six years and two months, has been Ladybug all along?" A bright smile spread over Alya's whole face when Tikki nodded in conformation. "Oh my gosh! That is so cool!" Alya cried. She looked like she could jump up and down in excitement, but she refrained. All of a sudden her body stilled.

"How did Mari become akumatized?" She asked. All of a sudden she was quiet.

Adrien sighed in defeat. He knew the topic would eventually come up, but he desperately hoped it wouldn't. _Too late now, I guess. I did do it so I have to face the consequences somehow_ , Adrien thought to himself. "Umm….That was me." Adrien hung his head and looked away from Alya as he began.

"I made Marinette become akumatized. I don't suppose you remember who attacked you?" Adrien asked.

Alya shook her head, shocked by the question. "No, I'm sorry I don't." Before Alya could say anything else, Adrien barged into his explanation. He looked into Alya's eyes this time as he did so.

"Well to start the story on how Mari got akumatized, I have to start with what I know about your attack. The akumatized Chat Noir, Chat Blanc at the time, got angry at Ladybug after they had a fight and he became akumatized. His goal was to destroy each and every one of the followers of Ladybug. You were one of the last enemies he preyed on. He hurt you trying to get information of Ladybug. Next he went after his last enemy, Marinette…..Ladybug. He had been following her for a time, memorizing everything she did so he would be able to predict every move she made in the final battle." Adrien's shoulders rose and fell as he continued his explanation. His breaths were unsteady as he continued to retell a memory that he never wanted to think about again.

"This past night Chat Blanc finally caught Ladybug and tore her to shreds. He weakened her enough so that her transformation would disappear. He learned she was Marinette, and when she said she cared about both sides of him, Chat Blanc lost control." Adrien's voice was a monotone now. He didn't want to lose control over his eyes again. "He used his cataclysm on Marinette and almost turned her to rubble. This action made the love that Marinette had for Chat disappear, and she became akumatized, telling Chat Noir that she would make him miserable." Tears welled up in Adrien's eyes, but he kept them in. There was a deep silence between everyone in the alley. Finally, Alya broke it.

"What happened to Chat Noir?" she asked quietly.

Adrien took in one more deep breath, but he couldn't control the tears anymore. "He was de-akumatized and his miraculous, and Kawami…Plagg….. was taken from him by Ladybug. He is now looking for his friends to help him get his lady back" Adrien finished in a whisper.

A pair of warm and slightly mocha colored arms wrapped around him in a brotherly hug, and Adrien realized Nino had made it in time to hear his story. Adrien fell into the hug gratefully excepting the rare feeling of being loved by family.

Nino reached out to Alya with one hand and pulled the three friends close together. "We're here for you, Bro. We'll help you get your Ladybug back. Our little Mari," Nino whispered.

Tikki smiled from her perch on Alya's shoulder. _If only Mari knew about the family that is waiting for her right now_. Tikki joined the hug by nuzzling into Alya's shoulder. The group stayed like that for a long time.

"So what's the plan?" Nino asked a little while later as he was patching Alya up. Tikki was by his side using her magic to heal some of the more serious wounds while Adrien was building a sling for Alya's broken arm out of the remains of his white over-shirt.

"Truthfully? I don't know. I mean it's going to take a lot of work, even if we did have a plan because we still need Ladybug to catch the akuma and turn everything back to normal. When Marinette was akumatized, the akuma went into her earrings, so we can't-" Adrien was cut off by Tikki as she suddenly spun up into the air yelling something in a foreign language that was probably centuries old.

"Tikki, slow down! And please, speaking in French would be much appreciated," Nino said, stopping what he was doing. Alya reached out her hands as Tikki came soaring down again. Tikki landed in Alya's hands, but didn't stay grounded for long. She started bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Sorry, but I just realized something. If the akuma had gone into the Miraculous, I would have been sucked into the earrings, similar to what happened with Plagg." Tikki giggled at her revelation, but the humans around her were not comprehending anything.

"And that means…..?" Adrien asked, looking at Tikki, waiting for her to explain.

Tikki huffed a little, annoyed. "Remember how you had that fake ring Adrien? Well Marinette crafted fake earrings a few months ago because the akuma villains were getting better at grabbing the Miraculouses. She always carried around her spare. I can't really remember, but I think she was wearing her fake earrings. So we have hope! We have a Ladybug!" Tikki cried happily. The rest of the group whooped in excitement, but Alya stopped the celebration with a hand.

"This still isn't good. Hawkmoth could have both Miraculouses by now and could be taking over the world right now," Alya reasoned, but Tikki shook her head happily.

"It's been at least four hours since Ladybug left Adrien. Hawkmoth would have taken his chance already if he had them both," Tikki explained.

Adrien grinned with a true smile for the first time in weeks as he whispered with hope. "Then Mari's still under there if she didn't give the earring over. We have a lot more hope at winning this than before. We've got this!" Adrien clapped his hand on Nino's and Alya's backs. "We can get Mari back!"

000

"Adrien, I brought you the cookies that you 'desperately needed'. Now will you tell me what's going on?" Natalie set the tray of cookies heavily onto one of Adrien's tables, and then she turned to Adrien with her hands on her hips. Adrien grinned happily at Natalie with a half chewed cookie in his mouth as he offered a seat to her.

Alya, Nino, Tikki, and Adrien had snuck into Adrien's room at mid-day and they now sat in assorted furniture around Adrien's computer. After checking if his father was away from his home, which he was, Adrien secretly invited Gorilla and Natalie into his room. Now he had a group of people part of his secret society to take Ladybug back from Hawkmoth. After not seeing anyone he cared about for three weeks, Adrien was enormously happy that practically all of the people he loved were all in one space where he could keep an eye on them. The only person that was missing was Marinette, but Adrien could deal with it since they were all together for her; to help save her.

Adrien let Tikki slide out of his shirt, with her permission first, and Natalie and Gorilla's eyes widened in surprise, but recovered like it was nothing. "This is Tikki. She is a Kawami, and she is the being that helps the superhero Ladybug transform. Chat Noir has one too," Adrien explained. Tikki waved then darted towards the tray of cookies and started munching down happily. Adrien was then cut off by Gorilla's gruff addition to the conversation before he could continue.

"Plagg. Yes we know all about him and his cheese habits. We also know what happened to Ladybug. We have not been living under a rock for the past twelve hours, or six years. Just tell us some of the ideas you have for your plan and tell us what to do," Gorilla said in a monotone voice, without any emotion. Natalie nodded in agreement with him. Adrien just sat there with his mouth hanging open.

"What? How?...Never mind, don't answer that. I don't want to know how you guys figured it out. I guess I just want to thank you guys for covering up for me for however long you knew," Adrien said weakly. _How did they figure it out? Did they tell my father? No, they wouldn't do that. But how did they figure it out?_ Adrien thought rapidly.

"You were not as discreet as you thought you were, but you're welcome. And no, we haven't told your father. It is your discretion on whether or not to tell your father, not ours. But right now we need to work on your plan," Natalie finished sternly. Adrien always wondered how Natalie could always read his mind, but he guessed it came with the territory of knowing him for so long. Adrien was just glad that she was on his side.

"Ok, we know the akumatized Ladybug-" Adrien began, but Gorilla cut in.

"Lady Luck."

Adrien nodded. "Ok." Adrien winced slightly at the name. "Lady….Luck still has the Miraculous earrings of Ladybug and she hasn't turned them over to Hawkmoth, which means we have a chance at finishing this battle by capturing her akuma." Adrien finished his sentence and looked at his group of friends expectantly.

Natalie blinked a few times. "That's it?...That's all you've got?"

"Yep," Adrien said cheerfully. Natalie winced, and started rubbing her temples while mumbling curse words to herself.

"Oh dear, we have a long way to go" Natalie took a deep breath in and out, and then turned to Alya. "Alya, would you mind pulling up your Ladyblog? We might be able to look at your coverage of each battle in the past five to six years to see if there are any similar patterns in the weaknesses of the villains." Natalie took out a note pad and a pen. "Then we can record our findings on here."

Alya did as she was told, and brought up her Ladyblog, and she pulled up the tab for the battles, especially the endings of the battles. The crew watched the battles closely and Natalie wrote down various notes on her pad of paper.

The only similarity that the group discovered between the akumas was that they could rarely focus on two things at once. There were only a handful of akumas that could easily dodge surprise attacks, but they in turn had a similar fault. While they were dodging the two attacks led by the superheroes, they concentrated less on keeping their akumatized item safe.

"Ok, so we need to have a plan to cover both of these possibilities because we still don't know how powerful Lady Luck is. Although, I have a theory that she can easily multitask. She had so much energy when she, erm… transformed. There is no doubt in my mind that she is one of the most powerful akumas Paris has faced," Adrien reasoned when they had finished the videos some hours later.

"I agree, but what should we do? Have like four people come at her all at once so she has to really multitask, or what?" Nino thought out loud. His face suddenly lit up. "Oh! How about we set something on fire close to her so she'll be preoccupied with that, then we'll have some animals come from the zoo with awesome theme music blaring in the background and…" Nino kept on rambling and rambling until Alya threw her uninjured hand over his mouth to silence him.

"I know you're trying to help, sweetie," Alya said in a sickly sweet voice that bordered on murder, "But shut up."

Nino closed his mouth promptly and looked at Alya wearily as she pulled her hand away. He was very unsure about what she would do (on a daily basis really) if he opened his mouth, so he kept it shut for a while in fear of being slapped.

"Anyway," Alya jumped into the conversation again, "Do you think we could possibly confuse her by having multiple things go wrong for her in different parts of Paris to distract her. It could be possible. We'll just need some people to play decoys to be the victims of Lady Luck's wrath, but I think it could work."

"I was just saying that!" Nino complained, but once again shut up when Alya glared at him.

"That's actually a pretty good idea, but I don't want to endanger you guys. This is my problem to deal with. I can't push it on you," Adrien complained.

Natalie shook her head. "Adrien. We are your family. We're going to help you matter what. Like I stated earlier, we are at your disposal, just tell us what you want."

Adrien smiled at Natalie caringly, then turned to his computer to change the web page to a map of Paris. He quickly copied the image and pasted it onto his touch screen. Tikki passed him a pen for the screen, and Adrien chose a color. Next, Adrien circled where the Eiffel tower was located.

"Alright, this is where I think the battle should end up. Since this whole messy situation of akumas started there, I thought it would be cool to end it where it began." Adrien looked up and saw several heads nodding in agreement. He turned back to the screen and circled several more popular locations all over Paris. He circled the Louvre, the Notre dame of Paris, the Arc de Triumph, the Sacré-Coeur, the beginning of the catacombs, and the Ferris wheel on the Place de la Concorde

"These places are the largest tourist attractions, just like the Eiffel Tower. If we want to distract Ladyb- Lady Luck, then we need to get tourists involved. I don't mean endanger them, but just use them for hiding in plain sight. We need one person for each attraction to maybe make an explosion, get Jagged Stone there; something. With all of these things happening hopefully I will be able to distract Lady Luck," Adrien explained.

"But we're only four people, not counting you and Tikki. We need at least six to seven. It's a great plan, but we just don't have the people," Alya pointed out.

"My brother Guillaime can help us, but I also think some of your classmates will definitely help," Gorilla added.

Alya pulled out her phone. "I'll contact some of them now."

"Great!" Adrien smiled again. "Now we can get to assigning places and jobs." The group huddled close again. It was agreed upon that Tikki would stay with Adrien but they would still be close to everyone else just in case something went wrong. Nathaniel, Kim, Juleka, Alix, Rose, Mylene, and Ivan answered back to Alya almost instantly, and all of them combined were able to lay out a plan. They were also able to situate almost everyone in pairs so everyone could be safer. Everything was working out…..well almost.

"You look like a very happy lot. Care to fill me in?" asked a high pitched, female voice. Everyone in Adrien's room were absorbed in their work around the computer, but they spun around at the voice. Their sparkling eyes burnt out as soon as they turned around, and their hearts plummeted. There standing on the window sill was Lady Luck. She looked a little more bloody and dirty since the last time Adrien had seen her, and it curdled his stomach.

"What are you doing here?" Adrien growled. He stood up slowly and stood in front of his family, protectively. While he was doing this he deleted the map of Paris off of the screen before she could see their exact plan.

"I see you have been planning my demise. How sweet." Lady Luck jumped down from the window and landed like a cat on the blue carpet of Adrien's room. She unhooked her black and white yoyo and swung it around lazily. "I am here to teach you a lesson, Adrien. Don't you remember?" Lady Luck looked coyly at Adrien, but the expression didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes stayed blank and black.

Adrien tried standing a little taller, and he ignored her comment. "Get out," Adrien growled. Behind him his friends got ready for battle, just in case. Gorilla pulled out his personal tranquilizer gun, while Natalie pulled out her Taser. Nino and Alya quietly pulled out various objects out of Adrien's desk like scissors, pens, and in Alya's case, a lamp. As soon as Lady Fortune had appeared in the room, Tikki had hidden behind the computer, immediately knowing something was off and she needed to stay alive for Adrien's sake. People thought Kawamiis were immortal and could never die, but Tikki knew that to be wrong. She was low on energy and was at a high risk of dying at the moment. She needed to protect herself first.

"I don't really feel like it," Lady Luck responded in a snotty tone. "I came here for the earrings, and I'm going to get them." She continued. _Lie_. That was the first thought that popped into Adrien's mind, and he believed it. He knew she was carrying the earrings. She just wanted to create mayhem.

"I don't have them," Adrien said sounding unconcerned. "But I do believe they are somewhere. I lose things all the time and they are never where you expect them to be. I suggest you start where you least expect them to be. Happy hunting!" Adrien smiled tightly and promptly turned around so that he was facing his computer again. He was hoping against hope that she would take his word for it and disappear, but he knew he was being to hopeful. He just needed to come up with a plan to get out of this situation before she did.

Lady Luck laughed shrilly. "You're so naïve, but very well. If that's what you're going with, so be it." _Too late,_ Adrien thought. Lady Luck launched her yoyo at Adrien's back, but Gorilla leapt in front of Adrien, shooting his tranquilizer gun at the same time. He missed, but Lady Luck didn't. Her yoyo slammed into Gorilla, and Adrien's bodyguard crumbled to dust.

"NO!" Adrien cried out as he turned around and tried to grab the crumbling Gorilla, but it was too late. _Too late, too late, TOO LATE!_ Adrien thought rapidly.

While Adrien was pre-occupied, Natalie, Nino, and Alya stood in front of him with their prepared weapons. Lady Luck rolled her yoyo back into her hand, and she smiled at the four.

"This is going to be really fun," she whispered. Instead of hurling her yoyo at them, Lady Luck chose to run straight at them and use her yoyo sparingly. She dodged the debris that Nino and Alya were now throwing, and she ran straight towards Natalie. Natalie pushed a button on the side of her Taser and two electrical cords sprang out and attached themselves to Lady Luck's body. An electrical shock rushed through the cords and momentarily shocked Lady Luck into a stillness. Nino took this opportunity to slam the sharp scissors into the wounds that were already gaping on Lady Luck's body. Alya, in turn, raised Adrien's lamp above her head, ready to strike. For that moment everyone forgot that they were fighting Marinette, and truthfully it didn't matter. Marinette was gone. Only instincts were left.

Just as Alya swung to hit Lady Luck over the head, Lady Luck snapped back into reality and reacted instantly. With one hand she turned Alya's lamp to ash with her yoyo, and with the other hand she pressed her fingers onto the perfect spot on Alya's neck, making her collapse. In the next second Lady Luck did the same with Natalie while destroying her Taser with the yoyo. Nino cried out in shock and leapt for Alya, trying to protect her, but Lady Luck was faster.

In the next instant Lady Luck grabbed both Natalie and Alya, and threw them over her shoulders. Lady Luck ran towards the window and jumped onto the sill. "You seem a little slow on the uptake today, Kitty. Hope you're more ready next time. I do love a challenge." Lady Luck winked dirtily at Adrien, and then leapt out the window. Where was she heading? No one could possibly guess. What mattered was that she was gone. She was gone with seventy-five percent of his family, and more.

Adrien got off of his knees and laid a hand on Nino's shoulder while Tikki came to land on his. Nino was still staring at the empty spot on the carpet where Alya had just been lying.

"We've got to end this," Adrien whispered like he was making a promise. "The final battle must happen tomorrow."

Adrien turned on his TV, and the news popped on instantly. All that could be seen were images and videos of Paris being destroyed. Everyone in the room took large, deep breaths.

"We've got to end this," Nino repeated.

"Let's just hope I can grab Marinette's earrings in time," Adrien finished. "I'm going to text everyone to tell them what just happened, then we'll go from there."

* * *

 **Hey readers! Ok, so unlike what Adrien said, I will not be writing and publishing the final battle tomorrow. It's going to be a while. I still can't believe I wrote this much for this chapter, or actually wrote another chapter. Anyway I hope you liked this chapter better since it is a little happier. Plus Adrien finally got to eat! Thank you for all the support on this story, it's great! I didn't expect someone to tell me right after I published it that I need to make a happy ending, and you know who you are. I didn't expect anyone to tell me to continue it, so thank you to everyone that did. Now when I was looking for inspiration for this chapter I found a Miraculous Ladybug comic where Chat Blanc hunted down Ladybug and tore her to shreds, which reminded me of my plot. I'm sorry about the similarities, I truly didn't mean to make my story so similar to the comic. JEG, your comic is beautiful, and I didn't mean to use some of the same ideas, but you were an inspiration. Anyway, please comment, favorite, or follow if you haven't done so already. And until I write again, TTFN!**


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